Reality Flux
by Ahardie
Summary: A strange creature has entered the valley, but he knows a lot about its inhabitants. Littlefoot meanwhile, is having some problems of his own.
1. Prologue

Hi there, this is lbtlover and I would like to thank you for reading my story. I would also like to give my thanks to the person who inspired me to write this story in the first place, the legendary Thunderblade

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own BOSE, any references to it and character appearances are with the author's permission.

Enjoy.

Prologue

Have you ever thought that our creations have a life of their own? That the creatures that we dream up in our imaginations live out their days in the world we created for them. These worlds are always there, evidence of their existence bleeding through to ours with each running parallel to the others. Out of the infinite number of realities present, two stand out for being so different and yet so alike to each other. Although they are always present, few of them will admit to their existence, because they cannot enter each others worlds.

Until now!


	2. A Questioned World

Chapter 1: A Questioned World

Waking up, Littlefoot looked around his home the "Great Valley" and thought to himself _"another perfect day"_. He smiled to himself, it was nearly always a perfect day in the Great Valley. He had everything he needed: food, water and of course, his family and friends. He looked over to his grandparents, some of the last of his family he had left; they were beginning to stir. He ran over to them as he always did to greet them.

"Morning Grandma, morning Grandpa," he called them.

"Good morning dear," his grandmother said, "did you sleep well?"

"Fine Grandma," he replied. But Littlefoot sensed something was amiss. There wasn't the sound of the Thundering Falls, nor the usual chatter of grownups in the fields. In fact, everything was deathly silent. For the first time since he had woken up, Littlefoot was worried.

"Grandpa can I go play?" Littlefoot asked. Right now, more than anything, he wanted to find his friends and find out what was going on.

"Yes Littlefoot," his grandfather answered, seemingly oblivious to the lack of life in the valley.

"Thanks," and with that, Littlefoot shot off into the valley.

The first thing he noticed, other than the lack of anything else alive, was that all the trees were covered in a mossy red creeper, which seemed to be sapping the very life out of the plants it was attached to. Littlefoot thought about were he should check first, and which of his friends he should try and find.

"Cera!" he shouted out loud, "she lives nearest here, by the Forest of Fear." Littlefoot then tore off towards the direction of Cera's nest. Upon arriving at the threehorn's nest, there was no sign of her; nor her father or stepmother Tria. Even her half sister Tricia was missing. Littlefoot bowed his head in sadness; his best and oldest friend was gone.

"Well, if I can't find her..." Littlefoot thought, "I can at least find out why I can't hear anything from the Thundering Falls." And with that, Littlefoot sprinted off, back in the direction he came from. When he arrived at the gigantic waterfall which supplied the valley with its water, Littlefoot's heart caught in his throat. The water was running backwards, but what Littlefoot realized next, truly horrified him, the water was red like blood; thick and dark. As he turned away, he saw the red weed had grown significantly and was actually growing before his eyes, straight towards him. It was actually rearing up, like the neck of a longneck, and trying to strike at him. The trees it had covered were dead or dying, and the grass was brown and dry. Suddenly, a piece of the weed managed to latch onto his front leg, digging into his skin. Littlefoot tried desperately to shake it off, but he couldn't. The creeper was sucking the very life out of him, feeding off of him. Littlefoot sank to the ground, his mind clouded and weak, preparing himself for what he believed would be his death. All of a sudden, the creepers relinquished their hold, and dragged away.

Opening his eyes slowly as his strength returned, Littlefoot saw a sight which took his breath away. Before him, a fissure had opened in the earth, and trailing from it were two glistening mist like vines, defending him from the creepers which fought desperately to reclaim their prize. But their efforts were futile, every time they lunged for the defenseless child that lay before them; the glowing vines merely batted them away, reducing them to red ash. Littlefoot's hopes began to rise; perhaps this wouldn't be the day he died after all. No sooner had he thought this, the creepers recoiled and seemingly turned towards the far side of the valley. Looking towards the Great Wall, Littlefoot saw with horror that a great wall of fire and smoke was approaching, consuming all in its path. Covering his head with his feet in fear, Littlefoot thought to himself_ "this can't be happening, this can't be real!" _As his thoughts gave way to tears, Littlefoot once again felt something coiling around him, but they were surprisingly gentle and warm. Looking up, he saw that the mist like vines were lifting him up, and carrying him towards the crack in the ground from which they came. Littlefoot allowed himself to be carried by his mysterious saviors, and as he descended beneath the earth, the last of the light was consumed by the dark fireball as it swept overhead.


	3. An Unearthly Being

An Unearthly Being:

Littlefoot stared upwards as the glowing arms carried him deeper and deeper into the earth. He could see the fire raging up above, casting an orange glow down into the crevice which seemed to carry on endlessly. A blanket of thick smoke swept over the hole, blocking all light from above, sealing the terrified young dinosaur in the cold darkness. Even now in the dank abyss, Littlefoot could hear the fire performing its work on the valley above. Small hisses were escaping the plants and trees as their sap boiled within their stems and branches, turning to steam before it burst forth into the air. To anyone unaware, they would have sounded like screams of some poor creature being tortured to death, screaming in its death throws. Littlefoot bowed his head, close to tears. If his friends were still in the Great Valley they would surely perish, burned alive by the flames. Worse still, he knew his grandparents were up there above the ground in what was once a beautiful paradise. The closest members of his family were gone forever because of something he didn't understand. The arms continued to gently carry him downwards through the darkness to an unknown destination, taking the greatest of care not to harm him. Littlefoot just wished he could talk to them, to thank for rescuing him or ask them who and what they were! But it seemed that these mysterious creatures couldn't speak, in fact Littlefoot doubted if they were truly alive.

The gentle white glow given off by the arms was giving the surroundings some form of shape. Littlefoot could see that the walls of the gorge were surrounding him, a little wider than it was on the surface. They shimmered in the bask of the arms, reflecting the light back in small dots as if it were the night sky. Moss covered the walls, fed by the moisture in the air, creating a blanket of plant life. Suddenly a hissing filled the air. Looking up, Littlefoot saw several bright balls of light dropping towards him. Frantically he looked down, expecting the arms to move him to safety or to defend him, but they seemed oblivious to the threat. Fearing for his life he looked up to see where the orbs were. As they came closer, the light became too bright to bear. He turned away and closed his eyes, hoping that the lights wouldn't hit him. Squinting his eyes, Littlefoot saw two of the lights speed past down into the depths.

"Phew," Littlefoot said, relieved at his escape, "that was a close one."

As he raised his head, a third ball suddenly hit one of the glowing arms, momentarily stopping in its decent. Littlefoot took the opportunity to take a closer look at the thing and find out what it was. Much to his astonishment, it was a piece of burning wood, still alight even after such a long fall. It then fell through the arm, continuing on its journey into the darkness. Then a question came to mind.

"_How did it end up down here?"_ he thought to himself. There was no way it could have come down on its own, trees and plants couldn't move. His ponderings continued as the fireball finally disappeared from his sight. No answer came to him except one, someone must have knocked it down, but he quickly dismissed the idea. No one could have survived the inferno this long and besides, the person responsible would have fallen with it.

"Wonder where I am…" Littlefoot asked himself. It certainly wasn't the caves that the Tinysauruses lived in; it was far too deep. Besides, he would have seen them by now. Suddenly a thought occurred to him; perhaps the Tinysauruses had survived. After all, they were underground. He felt his hopes rise, perhaps someone would survive. The walls were beginning to widen out now, giving him some room to stretch. Without warning something dripped onto his nose, sticking there.

"Eeew, what is this stuff?" Littlefoot blurted out, trying to scrape off the fluid with his foot. Whatever it was, it was sticky like the sinking sands but it was surprisingly warm to the touch. He looked up, staring for as long as he could, trying to find the liquid's source, but to no avail. All of a sudden his eyes began to burn; the liquid had slowly oozed into his eyes. The pain was unbearable, tears were flowing freely from his eyes in a futile attempt to clear them and rid him of the pain. The arms stopped and the tips seemed to turn towards him in alarm. Coming close to him, they slowly stroked his eyes, gradually easing the pain. After the pain had subsided, Littlefoot eventually opened his eyes, once more concentrating on his mysterious saviours.

"Thank you," he said to them, but once more there was no reply. They simply carried onwards, down through the dark into the bowels of the earth. Then, a sudden hiss broke the silence much louder than before.

"_Is it the fireballs again?"_ Littlefoot thought to himself returning his gaze to what was above him. But what he saw chilled his blood to ice. High above, groping at the walls of the cavern, were the blood red vines that had tried to kill him earlier. Each one was illuminated by the fire that was now upon them, but that was not all. The true source of the mysterious liquid had been revealed. Each vine now had a three part opening on its tip, filled with thin tooth like thorns and everyone was spraying vast amounts of the viscous fluid. Littlefoot screamed at the sight, accidentally alerting each and every one to his presence. The vines turned, finding their target then lunged and crawled in his direction. Littlefoot shrunk backwards.

"_Me and my big mouth!"_ he thought, staring at the flaming vine. Then, without warning, the arms sped up, moving as fast as they could. The vines were momentarily stunned in their pursuit, and then sped after them. They seemed to be relentlessly obsessed with reclaiming their prey. Littlefoot looked back, determined to keep an eye on his pursuers. One vine was only inches from his head, reaching for him, desperate to bite into his skull. Suddenly the walls of the cave spread out into a much larger chamber. As the vines struck this point there was a flash. Littlefoot slammed his eyelids shut, from the sudden pain. Once the light had faded he looked back, the vines were writhing about, screaming as if in pain. The slime that flowed from their mouths was now clogged with blood. There screams still filling Littlefoot's ears they withdrew, rushing back to their deaths. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked around at the new cave he was in.

Not only was it much larger, the cave was illuminated but not by the arms. From the heart of the cave walls, came a soft glow that bright enough to allow him to see his surroundings fully. The cave was rounded with smooth leaves, each one larger than Littlefoot was long. He marvelled at the sights before him, the plants here were even bigger than those in the Great Valley. The arms finally lowered him to the floor, releasing him from their grasp. Taking one last look at them, he saw the arms give one last glow before fading into nothingness. Turning back to the centre of the cave, a small pinprick of light had appeared and it was steadily growing larger. Walking closer, he stared deep into the heart of the light. Within it he could see a glowing pulsating mass, steadily starting to grow. Littlefoot ran backwards to escape the mass as it burst forth, taking up a large area of the cave. Turning back, he could see that the shape was no longer expanding. Taking in what it was he realized something, it was similar to the mist like arms which had carried him down to the cave. It was a large rounded shape, almost perfect except for the occasional plume which escaped from it. And now, deep within it, another form was beginning to take shape.

"Welcome young one," it said to him. Startled, Littlefoot took a few steps back. The voice seemed to come from everywhere but at the same time, it seemed to come from within his own head. It seemed to have an almost melodic tone.

"There is no need to be afraid child, come forward, please!" the form asked. The form's voice also seemed vaguely familiar, as if he had heard it a lifetime ago. Slowly and cautiously, he stepped up to the form. It was becoming more defined by the second, now vaguely resembling a longneck. He felt it was now his turn to say something.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked the stranger, which was now clearly the shape of a longneck, albeit made of mist.

"Right now my name is of no importance, but I will tell you that I am a person who is not bound by time and space," the longneck explained. Littlefoot was puzzled; time he understood but he had never heard of space.

"What's 'space'? He asked, wishing to understand what the great longneck was talking about.

"Space is the very fabric of the world" the longneck explained "but ours isn't the only one. There are dozens of alternate realities and each one enriches the others, bleeding through in one way or another." Littlefoot just stood there. It had just said words he had never heard before. He tried to rationalize what had just been said.

"You mean… beyond the Mysterious Beyond?" he asked, relating to what the Rainbow Faces had said to him long ago. The longneck looked down upon him with a smile upon its face and then said quietly,

"Beyond even that little one." Before Littlefoot could say anything the longneck continued.

"A disaster is coming young longneck, and you are vital to the survival of two realities, if not more. Your reality will be struck first but not as hard, then theirs will follow quickly!" The voice had become an amalgam of young and old, the longneck was clearly straining the issue. Littlefoot on the other hand was worried. How could he do this on his own?

"I can't do this on my own; I'm just a kid!" he blurted out, staring up at the grand dinosaur standing above him. It brought its head down to be level with his and said in a much calmer voice.

"You won't be doing it alone. Individuals from the other world will be helping you. I am not sure how many yet, but one in particular I know will guard you with his life. But he needs you just as much as you need him. He is a capable warrior, but he needs something you can offer better than most. Compassion. It is something that has been absent in his life for a long time." The longneck then raised its head back up to full height, "He has followed the events of your life since the day of your birth, and has seen your greatest adventures." The longneck then looked back down to him.

"Time is short; you must return to the worlds above; the trial will begin soon." A thought came to Littlefoot's mind, pressing its importance.

"But how will I know who he is?" he asked looking at the now fading figure with soft eyes.

"Just trust your instincts Littlefoot!" Littlefoot felt his jaw drop.

"How do you know my name?" he shouted, but got no reply. The longneck swung its mighty tail before his eyes with a blinding flash, forcing him to close his eyes as tight as he could. When he opened them again, he was once more in the Great Valley. But it was now reduced to a scorched wasteland just as bad, if not worse, than the Mysterious Beyond. But amidst the carnage, he saw a strange sight. There was a silhouetted figure standing in the centre of the valley. Tendrils of blue fire were snaking off of its body, doing the figure itself no harm. Littlefoot could tell that it was faced in his direction, but it seemed to be focusing on something behind him. Before he could do anything, the figure began to run towards him. Startled by the creature's swift movement, he did nothing until the creature lunged at him. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was a strange shaped hand, and two luminous eyes.

Littlefoot shot up in his sleeping pit, gasping for breath. The dream had been happening for a while now but this time it had lengthened. He decided to let it go, and after a while, managed to settle into a shallow restless sleep.


	4. Whole New World

Whole New World:

Later that day, Littlefoot was still racking his brain over his dreams. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask. Like, what was that shape that had leapt towards him? Who was this person who would know him so well? He could accept the idea of someone knowing him well but, since the day of his birth, only three dinosaurs he knew had been there that night and one was dead. His thoughts wavered for a moment; memories of years past came flashing back to him. It had been so long since that day and although Littlefoot knew that the memories of his mother would never truly leave him, they had faded. It was becoming harder to remember her face, and her voice.

These thoughts were interrupted however, by the call of a certain young, orange-coloured triceratops.

"Littlefoot! Hey Littlefoot, wait up!" she called to him, her head crashing through the foliage in her path.

"Oh, hey Cera. What are you doing over here?" he asked the threehorn, who was now visibly out of breath.

"Looking for you of course! What're you doing over here?" she asked him, her irritation now becoming more visible by the second.

"Just thinking about some sleep stories I've been having lately. The ones I told you about remember?" he replied, turning his body around so he could face her directly.

"Yeah, you told me about that. The one where there's the weird mist and the vines," she said. Cera's voice was now a full mix of concern and interest.

"It's like it's becoming more and more real every night. It's starting to worry me!" his eyes wandered from her face whilst saying this. Littlefoot could already predict what she was going to say.

"You're worried about a sleep story? Ha!" Cera's voice was now filled with ridicule at her long time friend, "Littlefoot, you sound like a hatchling; being scared by sleep stories!"

Littlefoot's gaze turned cold and stony. Her laughter ended almost at once.

"I'm being serious Cera, and you're not helping!" he scowled at her.

"Alright, don't go and bite my horn off!" she answered starting to turn away from him, "When you see the others, tell them that I'm not going to be able to see them until later okay?"

"Why? Where are you going?" he asked her, puzzled.

"The twins are visiting for a while. When that pair get together with Tricia, you get major trouble." she explained, a pained expression coming to her face. Littlefoot couldn't help but crack a grin at the thought.

"Well, see ya later!" she called, already charging towards her nest. Looking up at the clear sky above him, Littlefoot letting out a sigh.

"_I guess there's no point worrying about it now…"_ he thought to himself. Turning round, he ran off into the Valley to find his friends.

_In the multitude of universes, one other sticks out from the rest, and one individual on a certain planet draws our attention._

Fires were burning out of control, people were screaming and shouting. Gunshots were going off everywhere, not all hitting their targets. As dozens of people ran through the streets, amidst the chaos, there was a young child. No older than eight years old, he was following his sister, two years older than him. Their clothes were tattered and covered in flecks of dried blood. Both of them had terrified expressions on their faces as they stared at the carnage unfolding around them. Suddenly without warning, a man in his early thirties grabbed the young girl's arm. Thick saliva dripped down his chin as a feral screech escaped from his throat. As if being called, two more people, an elderly woman and a teenage boy ran over. Their skin was grey, as if it was rotting.

They grabbed at the girl's limbs and began to pull. A shoulder gave way, the skin and tendons splitting in a burst of crimson blood. The man stared at his prize, and then sank his gnarled teeth into it. All the while, the girl was screaming.

"Help me, please help me!" she cried, but it was a futile effort. The boy merely watched on, tears streaming from his eyes. The teenager took the girl's head in his hands, and then twisted it violently, ending her misery.

Her brother turned away, tearing around the street corner without looking back. But he couldn't stop himself from hearing the sounds, the noise of skin ripping and the crack of bones. He hit something hard. Looking up, he saw the back of what appeared to be a man in his early twenties. As he turned round, he saw its face. The eyes were sunken and full of blood which dripped from them. Its lipless mouth snarled as it opened its maw. The boy stared into its dark abyss of a throat, unable to avert his eyes as the creature lunged forward in an attempt to bite him.

"Aaaaaah!" Alex screamed as he sat up in his bed, his knuckles white from being clenched for so long. It didn't matter how much he screamed, there was no-one left to hear. No-one normal anyway. It had been seven years since that day, seven long years since he had cheated the Grim Reaper. Looking around his makeshift home, he saw that, as usual, nothing had changed. Alex lived in an abandoned sewer control building, the lower levels of which were based underground. Pulling up his brown wool trousers, he climbed the ladder that led to the surface of his home. Looking out the window, he saw charred buildings and nothing else. All of it was a failed quarantine attempt on the city of Southampton, the fire bombs had done nothing to stop the outbreak.

The virus was a mutated cross between Rabies and Anthrax; it had made anyone infected more feral. But the effects weren't just mental, they were physical as well. Modern humans use only ten percent of their muscle power, but the virus made them use the full capabilities, making them effectively superhuman. He had survived by drastic means, he had naturally degraded. The isolation Alex had experienced had meant he too had become more feral, but to a lesser extent. His fighting style was mostly tae kwon do, but now it also consisted of clawing and bites. His muscle strength had increased to the point he was able to lift ten times his own body weight. Looking to the wall next to him, he set his eyes upon the makeshift calendar, its year reading 2123.

Alex drummed his uncut fingernails on the rotting window ledge as he stared up at the clouds which promised rain later in the day. However, not all was bad in the end of civilization. The contents of places such as book stores had been pretty much left alone, which provided suitable material to educate himself. He would have to gather supplies soon while the going was good. Crossing over to the other side of his crude home, Alex pulled out a dark blue long sleeved shirt, the nearest thing his clothes got to pristine. Over this, he pulled out a tattered grey sweater with ribbing, placed on it (charred here and there). Lastly, he pulled out a black trench coat which was greying with time. It was the early spring so the temperature was still quite low, but the main reason for the clothing was protection. Reaching into the base of the cupboard, he also lifted a set of steel capped combat boots, scuffs dominating their toes.

Alex's face then dropped as he looked at the small desk to his left. Resting on it was a necklace which had a teardrop shaped piece of amber on it. The fossilized sap was a mixture of the typical orange but there were swirls of green amber in it as well. It was the last gift he had received from his mother's side of the family. Removing it from his neck had failed to cease the nightmares that had plagued him for eight years of his life. He began to wonder. Was there really any point keeping it off any more?

Taking the precious item it his hands, he then fed each end of the thread around his neck until he heard the snap of the magnets. Letting it hang on his chest, Alex looked down at what had rested next to the necklace; a bowie knife. As he reached for it, he heard a screech from the distance. Turning his head in the direction it came from, Alex merely blinked, unfazed. Picking up the knife, he placed it in its sheath upon his belt. He had a feeling he was going to need it.


	5. When Realities Clash

When Realities Clash

The Bright Circle was at its highest point in the sky as the gang played a game of Toss the Seed. To one side sat three members of Cera's family; her niece and nephew, Dinah and Dana along with her half sister Tricia who watched the match intently. At current, the game was being favoured by Littlefoot's team.

"And another one!" Littlefoot said in a joyous tone as he scored another point between the two sticks that worked as a goal. The game was taking place at the edge of the Green Meadow, away from the crowds of the Valley's inhabitants. "You are very good at this game Littlefoot, you are, you are," said Ducky as she leaned against a small sapling to catch her breath. Littlefoot turned his head to look down at her.

"I guess I'm just lucky," he replied with a small smile. He had known Ducky since before they had come to the Great Valley, and her kind personality had never wavered except once, when the white ground sparkles had first fallen in the Valley.

"Well, he won't be winning again," Cera snorted as she pawed at the ground, eager for another round. She had always been a bit headstrong and none of her friends ever thought she'd change. That's what made Cera herself.

Petrie nodded as he hovered over the group's heads, "Okay, but what about twins? They getting bored," he indicated over to the three young threehorns. Tricia had fallen asleep in a clump of grass whilst Dinah and Dana were having a shoving contest. Littlefoot stared at the scene for a while,

"Let them play for a while, I'll sit out for now." Cera seemed to dwell on this for a while before reaching her decision.

"Okay, as long as you don't wake Tricia," she said finally, casting her gaze towards her sleeping sibling. Although at first Cera hadn't liked the idea of having a younger sister, the bond had grown between them. Turning her eyes back towards Littlefoot, her eyes becoming a frown. "Got it?" Looking taken aback for a second, Littlefoot slowly nodded. Without a second word, the Threehorn Twins ran over eager to join in the game, whilst the young longneck went to where they had just been rolling around in the grass. Lying down on the ground, he looked at the flowers that were abundant around him; their red petals shining in the light, like fire.

"Fire….." Littlefoot's mind went back to his dream again. Once more it had extended, showing him more of his ravaged home. The shadowlike creature pinned him to the ground. Its tendrils of fire lanced into the ground. He stared into its glowing green eyes, which cast light across the two of them. He was able to see its body now, and it was exactly what it had appeared to be, a living shadow. It was nothing but darkness in a shape, but somehow it was solid. Then it was there, a low rumble as the ground started to tremble. Littlefoot tried to lift his head to see the cause of the disturbance only to be pushed back down. Straining his head to look down, he saw that the creature was holding him down with its hand, but it wasn't like any hand he had ever seen before. It had five fingers tipped with flat blunt claws.

Seconds later, a torrent of fire rushed above them right where his head had been. But the fire didn't pass. Instead, it hovered up a few feet higher and stayed there. Littlefoot looked up in astonishment at what had happened.

"You saved me!" he called to the creature to grab its attention. It turned its head to look at him, its green eyes now filled with compassion, almost as if it was at the verge of tears.

"Hey, why are you…?" Littlefoot began, but he was unable to finish as a fiery point burst from the shape's chest. Looking up he was able to see what had caused the injury. The inferno hovering above them had created an arm out of its body and stabbed the creature from behind. Curiously, it withdrew its weapon and dissipated, leaving nothing but dust behind. The shapes injury glowed ominously, as if it was made of firewater. Small glowing cracks began spreading from the wound, like veins. Upon reaching its arms, they spread through the air, forming themselves into long sickle liked claws. On its head, the glowing veins covered its jaws, extending them into long fangs.

All whilst this was happening, the creature was in visible pain with screams escaping its throat, its eyes clamped shut. Then its muscles began to bulge out, taking on a heavier appearance. Finally the creature stopped shaking, the veins stopped growing. Standing up straight again, the creature opened its eyes; they had become a glowing blood red. Looking down at Littlefoot, it opened its now horrific jaws to release a blood curdling screech. Within, Littlefoot could see row upon row of fangs dripping with slime. That was the last thing he saw before he had awoken.

"Littlefoot, what wrong?" a voice asked him. Snapping out of his daydream, Littlefoot looked to the voice's owner, Petrie.

"Oh, nothing" he said smiling. With a sceptical glance on his face, Petrie rejoined the game. Laying his head down on the grass, Littlefoot watched the game, but at the back of his mind he kept wondering. What had the dream meant?

________________________________________________________________________

Alex's boots kicked through the growing foliage that adorned the streets. Everywhere around, plants were becoming dominant again. Here and there was evidence that something had run through them a while ago. There were plenty of shops that could be used, but right now more than anything he needed medical supplies. Memories came back to light as he walked through the deserted street. After spending six years of his life in a children's home, he had spent the last two years before the outbreak with his father and sister in the area. In his mind, any image of her smiling had become blurred and grey. The only clear image he had left of her was in his nightmares. Letting the thoughts leave his mind, Alex returned to his present mission. Turning left down a side street, he stood before an almost perfect chemist; the only sign of ruin being the rust forming on the guards covering the windows. Running his hands over the aged steel, his mouth turned up in a one sided smile.

"No challenge!" he said as he drew his fist back before slamming it through the guard. Alex cocked his head to one side as he assessed the hole he had just made. "Having super-human abilities does have its perks I suppose," he laughed. He wondered if he should make the hole larger. He shrugged his shoulders,

"Why not?" There was no one to stop him, and it certainly would make his job easier. He tore at the metal, his nails screeching along it as he did so, bending it upon itself. Once satisfied, he climbed through. He grabbed what he needed: syringes, antibiotics, painkillers and anything that might be useful. Tossing his supplies into a backpack strewn on the floor, he made his way back outside. As he passed through the strips of metal, one of the points stabbed into his arm. Looking down at it, Alex sighed and simply ripped his arm forwards, tearing a long gash in his flesh. The injury was little more than an irritant to him, and so he continued walking down the street of the post-apocalyptic world he called home.

Upon reaching the central park of the city, Alex pulled off his trench coat and began working on his injury. Taking a needle and thread from his bag, he stitched the skin together. The job was crude but it would do the purpose it was supposed to. He sighed and slumped back against the bench he was sat on. Looking around, he knew he would have to make the most of the sunlight while it lasted. The infected instinctively stayed out of the sun, believing it was safer at night, but that meant at sunset they swarmed like locusts.

Standing up off the bench, he grabbed his coat, fastening the large buckle like clips that held it close across his chest. Thoughts were going through his head, choices and possibilities.

"_Why should I keep going, what's left for me?"_ he asked himself, taking the bowie knife out from its sheath, _"All it takes is one stab through the temple and this nightmare ends!"_

Placing the tip of the blade upon his temple, Alex closed his eyes, preparing to end his life. But before he could pierce the skin he heard a noise behind him; the shifting of rubble. Lowering the blade from the side of his head, he turned around. From atop a large mound of rubble blocking off a street, a few pieces of rubble rolled down. Flicking the blade upside down, he began to climb the mound, preparing himself for whatever might be on the other side. Standing atop the rubble, Alex found nothing on the other side, no sign that anything had even caused the rock to fall down. Then, he noticed something at the other end of the road. A house that he recognised all too well. It was his father's. In the seven years since the outbreak had began, not once had he returned to his former home. Was it fear that held him back? Or was it respect? But this time, he knew he had to. He had to see what had happened to it. Returning the knife to its sheath, he jumped down to the ground and began to walk towards his old home.

Walking up to the door, Alex wrapped his fingers around the handle and pushed, the frame splintering from the force. A cloud of dust kicked up as the door dragged along the floor, irritating his eyes. Wiping them clear, Alex walked through the rooms that, except for the dust, were almost untouched. Sitting down on an aged couch in the lounge, he held his head in his hands, emotions overwhelming him. It had been so long since he had even laid eyes upon the building let alone stand in it. So many memories, good and bad, were rushing back to him. Ones of him and his sister, others of his father. Forcing the thoughts from his mind he stood up and walked over to the large mirror hanging on the wall. Sure he had one in his crude home, but it was too small to show him anything below his chest. Wiping dust from the glass he stared into it and then lifted his shirts. On the left side of his ribcage were four long white scars, left by the infected that had tried to kill him all those years ago.

Lowering the shirts so they once again covered his torso, Alex spied a group of DVDs lined up along a shelf, their covers laden with dust. Dragging his feet along the floor, he picked up the first of the boxes to read its title. The Land Before Time. A small smile crept across his face; he remembered this film series all too well. A lone tear then fell from his eye; life had been so much simpler before the outbreak. He turned the DVD over, looking for the original release date. 1988, had that year ever really existed? Sliding the DVD back onto the shelf in its correct place, he felt something odd, as if the wall behind the shelf had just shifted. Running his fingers along the wall, he felt it move, there was a false back. Curling his hand into a fist Alex plunged it through the rotting wood. Feeling around in the space, he finally clenched something, it was some sort of cloth but something was wrapped in it. Pulling it through the hole he had just made, he noticed an envelope attached to it. Opening it he read what was written.

"To my dearest son, what you now hold in your hands now is a key to true potential, but it needs something from both sides from your bloodline. Use it well, your father."

Casting the letter to one side, Alex undid the wrapping. Inside was a machete, its blade measuring 22 inches with a saw back, the handle molded as if specifically for his hands and wrapped in grey tape. Placing the whetstone that had been wrapped up with it, he continued his observation. The metal of the blade was black, which meant it was military class. But it was too light to be steel. Testing the strength by bending it, he came to a logical conclusion. It was titanium. But along the edge he could see layers of metal, the blade was folded!

"That's was how samurai swords were made!" Alex exclaimed "someone's put blood, sweat and tears into you!" An almost beaming smile was on his face. Looking along the elegant weapon, but his eyes came to rest upon something strange on the handle. There was a hole in the same shape as the piece of amber on his necklace. Taking the pendant in his hand, he brought it closer to the hole, it looked perfect. But before he could place the ancient stone in it, he heard screeches from outside. Returning the weapon to its sheath and clipping it to his belt, he ran to a window. There outside were two infected, one crouching, the other standing a short distance in front of it.

"_Rogues"_ he thought as his lips curled up into a snarl. Rogues were the infected who, for some reason, felt brave enough to come out in the sunlight. But for Alex, it made them that much easier to kill. Taking the machete once again from its sheath, he gazed onto its surface.

"Let's see how much you're worth," he told it, a bloodthirsty grin appearing on his face. As he stood up he knocked a small object with his shoulder. Looking towards it, he found it was a small recorder. Picking up the small instrument, he saw it was made from oiled wood.

"_I learned to play this years ago, so it might be good for passing the time."_ Pocketing the instrument he made his way outside to face the creatures. Silently he made his way up behind the first one. Raising the blade above his head, he brought it down swiftly, cutting clean through the creature's neck. The small scream which the creature released in its final few living seconds caused the other to spin around. Spying Alex, it opened its mouth to release a scream of rage. But before it could the back of its throat was torn open, Alex had thrown his machete into its mouth, its tip now pointing through the back of its neck. It dropped to its knees as Alex walked over. Taking the grip in his hand, he pulled hard on it, the saw teeth along its back slicing through the roof of the creature's mouth like tissue paper. Sliding the machete into its sheath once more, he looked down at the lifeless body of the infected in front of him. Anyone watching would have been sure they had seen his pupils turn into slits. Bringing his steel capped boot back, he then swung it forward in a devastating kick which shattered its skull. Content with his work, Alex stepped over the corpse and began to walk back down the road. Within a few steps however, the ground began to crack.

"What the?" Alex asked himself, but the ground gave way before he could react. Sitting up, he found himself in a tunnel, but it wasn't a sewer. It was something like a bunker. Looking up he could see that the hole which he had fallen through was a good twenty feet upwards. He wondered how he could have endured a fall from that height without injuring himself, and then it hit him. Smiling, he stood up.

"Another reason to love the fact my body's devolving!" he shouted to himself. Dusting off his trench coat, he began looking for a way out. At one end of the tunnel, barely visible, was a light.

"Well, that's my best bet." And with that he began walking towards the faint light.

________________________________________________________________________

The game of Toss the Seed had ended a while ago and now most of the gang were sleeping. But not Littlefoot. He was wide awake and staring at the sky. The clouds were creating strange shapes, like spirals and points. In the back of his mind, he knew something was going to happen. But he also knew there was nothing he could do about it now. Rolling over onto his front, he laid his head down on the ground and closed his eyes, trying to forget his recent troubles.

________________________________________________________________________

Reaching the end of the hallway, Alex found that it split into two paths. One was pristine and almost medical facility style. The other was crumbling and grimy, it didn't look like it had been used for a long time.

"All right Alex, it's time to follow your instincts…" he told himself, "now, if logic serves, the dangerous things always seem to be in creepy places, so I'm picking the other way!" With that, he walked down the polished brightly lit corridor. That's when he heard the voices. Not the growls and screeches of the infected, but actual people.

"The cannon has failed, we need another option!" the first voice said. It seemed to be that of a man in his early thirties, gruff and broken with use.

"With respect sir, it has only been tested on primates. You can't say it's been a failure without a human trial," a second voice spoke up. It was much quieter than the first, but Alex couldn't tell if this was because he was further away or simply because he was intimidated.

"Did you see what happened to that thing? If you want to give it a human trial be my guest!" He was clearly becoming angry now. Just over the argument, Alex could make out the sound of other people walking around the complex. Then a third voice spoke up, younger than the rest, that of a girl.

"If the cannon has failed, then we will have to find an alternative method of recolonisation!" Alex decided he had heard enough. But as he moved away, a beeping sound broke the brief silence. Then there was the sound of shuffling feet. The second voice, a scientist he guessed, spoke up again.

"The motion tracker's picked up something General!" he said. Upon hearing this, Alex slowly began edging away from the doorway.

"Where is it?" the General asked. The cocking of numerous guns accompanied his question.

"In the hallway!" he replied. Alex's face dropped into a frown.

"Screw it!" he said to himself and tore down the hallway.

"After it!" the General commanded. The soldiers began filing out into the hallway and began chasing after their unidentified target. The General turned back to the scientist.

"Is it an infected?" he asked, with a small glimmer of what might have been fear passing across his eyes. The scientist shook his head.

"No it's too slow, but it is abnormally fast for a human. Besides, infected never run." He said, his voice filled with a mix of wonder and awe.

Meanwhile, Alex had reached the split in the corridors again, his head switching constantly between the two directions. He was racking his brains for an answer to the choice.

"Well…" he started "if I go the old way, they probably won't think I went down there, after all, kids don't tend to go into creepy places." Without a second thought, he began racing down the decaying corridor. The voices of his pursuers began drifting behind him.

"He's down this way, follow the motion tracker!" came the voice of a soldier. He groaned inwardly.

"For the love of Pete, this bunch reminds me of Red Phoenix!" he said to himself, recalling about a fictional organization. Suddenly, the corridor opened out into a large chamber with a single large spotlight in the centre of the room. Turning behind him, Alex could see that the chamber could be sealed by two heavy duty doors. Looking around, he found his target, a small control panel in the wall, and then grabbed a wrench from one of the benches. Swinging it above his head, Alex called out to the approaching soldiers.

"You boys need to RELAX!" he shouted to them as he swung the wrench into the control panel. In a shower of sparks and buzz of electricity, the console died and the doors swung together. A pounding of fists came from the other side of the door as they franticly tried to get in. Amidst the noise, the General's voice called out.

"All units! Hostile is intelligent and has sealed off main chamber. Use entry C!" No sooner had he finished, the pounding stopped and was replaced with the noise of feet tramping into the distance. A thin smile crept across Alex's face.

"Great, now all I need is to unlock the door that leads to the surface and…" his voice trailed off. Looking back to his right he saw the now destroyed terminal, the only one in the chamber. Alex's arms flew up to clench his skull.

"Aaaaaagh!" he screamed up towards the ceiling "there's only one way of opening the doors from in here and I just trashed it!" Slowly but surely, his claw like nails began cutting into his skin. Gently releasing his head, Alex looked around the chamber and took note of something. What he had first thought was a spotlight on the floor, was actually a square walkway leading towards a mechanical archway and above it was three orbs, orbiting each other. As he rested his hands on the top of a computer, the monitor flickered into life and an electronic female voice spoke out.

"Good morning, ready for operations." Alex flinched backwards at the voice, unprepared for its sudden appearance.

"_Stupid machine" _he thought to himself. _"Well, I'm trapped in here so I might as well find out what they're doing."_ Sitting down on the rotted chair in front of the computer, he looked at the screen and went down the list displayed, the first on the list being previous operation.

"That one," he said to himself, touching the screen at that point. Almost immediately, a three dimensional view of the archway in front of him appeared. As if on cue, the feminine voice reappeared.

"Project "Reality Cannon". Although originally intended to transport items to different points instantaneously around the globe, it was found that instead the device took objects to different planes of existence. However, all tests with organic materials have been failures. Tests involving baboons led to the creatures being turned inside out upon return. End of report." Alex stood up from the chair and walked up to the archway. Looking up at it from the grate flooring, he saw that the orbs appeared to be made from some kind of liquid.

Suddenly from behind him there was a grating of metal. Turning around, he saw that there had been a second doorway, clearly labelled C, a short distance away from the first. As soldiers swarmed into the chamber, Alex drew his machete and stood ready to fight. The entire group of soldiers pointed their guns towards him as the owners to the three voices he had heard earlier walked into the chamber behind them. The General was a well built man in his mid forties, standing roughly seven inches taller than Alex did. The scientist was just as he had expected him to be, slightly smaller than himself and frail looking. But the owner to the third voice took him entirely by surprise. She was a woman in her early twenties, with black hair that reached the middle of her back.

"It's a kid, but how could he outrun us?" one of the soldiers towards the back spoke up. The General surveyed him with cold eyes, finally coming to rest on the machete covered in dried blood. That finalized his decision.

"If it can outrun an elite squadron of soldiers then it's dangerous to us, kill it!" he shouted.

"Wait!" the woman called out, but it was too late. Time seemed to slow down for what happened next. All Alex could really remember was the gunshot as the bullet was fired and the feeling of it flying past his head. He had no idea how he actually dodged it. Life seemed to return to its normal speed as the bullet hit one of the spheres. Sheathing his machete as he turned around, Alex saw all three spheres explode and as they did so, he felt some kind of energy wash over him.

Falling to the floor from the shockwave, he heard the computers voice start again.

"Rift active!" it called as within the doorway, a large pulsating blue circle appeared. As it did, everything in the room began being sucked into it. Linking his fingers into the grid flooring, he clung on as the force began pulling at his legs. Above the wind and siren like voice of the computer, he could hear the voice of the General.

"You idiots, you've ruptured the negative matter spheres!"

A thought passed through Alex's mind, a crazy hope of survival.

"_If I stay here I'm dead for sure, but at least if I go through that THING I have some chance of survival"_ taking one last look back at the chaos in the room, he released his grip, allowing the force to pull him into the rift, tearing skin from his fingers as they left the metal. The second he entered the vortex it closed, the wind stopping with it. As the soldiers stood up, the scientist ran over to the monitor to read a flashing display.

"The cannon has temporarily sealed itself!" he called to the General, who was rising to his feet a short distance away.

"That boy…" the woman asked, staring towards the arch, "will he survive?"

"I don't know, he didn't have any co-ordinates," he replied to her, not looking away from the screen.

Meanwhile, inside the void, Alex was going through his memories as he drifted in the nothingness. Finally he settled on one memory, the day he had first seen The Land Before Time, one of the few times he could remember his father and sister with him. A loud noise like an explosion occurred without warning. Looking in the direction he was headed, he saw a large ball of light, but before he reached it, his eyes rolled back in his skull as he slipped into unconsciousness.

________________________________________________________________________

Littlefoot awoke to the sound of chatter and footsteps. Raising his head up on his long neck, he saw almost every dinosaur in the Great Valley staring up at a point in the sky. Walking forwards through the forest of legs, he found his grandparents, near the front as usual. Looking up at his grandmother, he saw a worried look on her face.

"What's going on Grandma?" he asked her, fear building in him. Her long neck came down so she could talk to him face to face.

"Something that unfortunately is very familiar to all the longnecks in the Valley" she explained. Looking up he saw what she meant, spiralling clouds, just like what had happened when the longnecks had all gathered to save the world after the Longneck Migration. Red lightning arced outwards from the centre as deep rumbles of thunder came from within the clouds. From the back of the crowd came Cera, running up to Littlefoot's side as her family followed her.

"What do you think's going to happen?" she asked him as her three younger relatives ran up beside her.

"I don't know," he whispered as he looked down at her. A ring of fire suddenly spread out from the centre of the spiral before dissipating. All the dinosaurs in the Great Valley looked up. And then, from its heart, shot a brilliant blue fireball. Its large flames billowed behind it as it shot towards the far side of the Great Wall. For some bizarre reason, without a second thought, Littlefoot ran in the direction it was flying.

"Littlefoot, come back here!" his grandfather called after him. But Littlefoot ignored him, the only thing he could think of just now was this bizarre falling rock.

Within its brilliant fire, Alex stirred from unconsciousness. He became aware that he was moving, and strained to look over his shoulder. Through the fire he could see a cliff face, coming towards him very fast.

"Son of a…" he shouted as he covered the back of his head with his hands. He felt his back crunch as he collided with the wall, the blue flames exploding on contact. As he slipped down, he left a deep impression in the rock. Landing on the ground, he laid there for a second before sitting up and rubbing his spine.

"This just really isn't my day," he said to himself as he felt his spine click back into place "at least it can't get any worse." A series of cracking sounds split the air. Looking up at the cliff wall, Alex saw that from where he had it, cracks were spreading out. The rocks began to fall as the cracks reached the top of the cliff.

"Me and my big mouth!" he said to himself, crouching down and covering his head as the rocks plummeted towards him. As the rocks began hitting the ground, Littlefoot shot round the corner and stopped there, mesmerized by the sight, but what caught his attention was not the falling rocks. He could only see it for a brief moment, but below the rocks was a bizarre creature with something like wings splayed out around it. Rock after rock fell, building up to a good fifteen feet. The sound of footsteps became apparent to him after a while. Turning around, he saw the crowd of dinosaurs walking towards him, his grandparents and Mr Threehorn, better known as Topsy to Cera's step-mother Tria, at the front.

Running up to meet them, he stopped at his grandparent's feet.

"Grandma Grandpa, I saw something under all the rocks!" he shouted up to them, clearly trying to keep himself calm. This seemed to catch his grandmother's interest, as she lowered her head to look at him.

"What did you see Littlefoot?" she asked him.

"There was something there, and it had weird skin because it was all black, but it didn't look like any dinosaur I've seen before!" he tried to explain, trying to pick the right words to describe what he had seen.

"Huh, not likely. This is where that flying rock hit," Mr Threehorn said, jabbing at the rocks with his nose horn.

"I'm afraid he is right Littlefoot," said his grandfather, "and besides, nothing could survive a rock slide like that," he pointed out, pointing his head towards the rocks. Littlefoot's head dropped, he didn't want to admit it, but they were probably right.

That night, Littlefoot was still looking towards the Great Wall. His grandparents, like most inhabitants of the Great Valley were asleep, which meant he could think without being disturbed. It was like something was calling him back to the rock fall.

"It can't be dead, I need to find out what it is," he told himself as he stood up. Taking one last look at his grandparents to make sure they were still asleep, he began to run toward the pile of rocks. Once he reached it, Littlefoot began climbing to the top and once he had, he began pushing rocks from it. After only six rocks, he felt exhausted.

"_I should have brought Cera, she loves smashing through stuff,"_ he thought to himself as his nose almost touched the rocks he was standing on. Then he heard something, like rocks being scraped against one another. Lowering his ear near to it, the noise was much clearer. Without warning, a closed fist burst through the rocks, stopping only inches from his head.

"Aaah" he screamed, rolling off of the mound. Once he reached the bottom he ran behind a bush, keeping his head low as he looked at the strange object. Alex forced his other arm up, digging himself out of the rocks crushing embrace. Pulling his trench coat free, he stood atop the rocks, surveying his new environment. It was so different to the world he knew so well. Then there was a snapping noise, a twig! Spinning round, he looked for the source of the noise, spotting a creature cowering behind a bush. Littlefoot knew the creature had seen him, even in the dark he could see its green eyes fixed on him. Fear getting the better of him, he turned and ran in the opposite direction, screaming as he did so. Alex watched him run, and then turned away to begin walking into the dense forest.


	6. A New Arrival

A New Arrival:

As Alex trudged through the plants and vines in front of him, he took a moment to take in his surroundings. The plant life was lush & green, not to unlike the location he had just come from, but the plants didn't look like anything he knew. In fact, most of them were thick ferns, the sort of plant you would expect in a volcanic area. Everything also seemed exaggerated, like it had been made rather than grown.

He stopped momentarily and looked up towards the sky, there were so many stars, just like back home, but they were in different positions. Alex didn't have time to muse over this for long however, as a series of quick snapping noises filled the air. Looking downwards quickly, Alex found that the patch of vines he was standing on was giving way. As they dropped, he attempted to grab onto the edges of the hole, but even his sharp nails provided little grip on the soft soil. The drop was short, and his boots hit the ground with a dull thud, causing small mounds of dust to rise.

Taking a few seconds to blink the dust out from his eyes, Alex returned his attention to the cavern he was in. It was small, but just tall enough so he could stand up straight and the walls were smooth and concave. All the while, he felt as though he had seen it somewhere before, like in a dream. Walking deeper into the cave, the double tails of his coat parted, revealing a tiny trembling lizard like creature. Slowly, another similar creature crawled down a ledge towards it.

"What was that?" it asked.

As dawn broke over the great valley, Littlefoot was sitting in his nest, trembling as he stared towards the Great Wall. He was thinking about what he had seen climbing out of the rocks during the night and was wondering, how did it survive that rockslide? How was it strong enough to move those rocks? He jumped as his grandparents began to stir, a few stray stones had cracked under their weight. As soon as he realised this, he ran up to them.

"Grandma Grandpa, I saw something climbing out of the pile of rocks!" Littlefoot shouted in a hurried pace, his grandparents barely able to understand.

"When did you see this Littlefoot?" his Grandmother asked him. He subconsciously recoiled from the question. If he told them he would be in trouble, but if he didn't, something potentially dangerous could be wandering the Great Valley.

"I sneaked out last night to check what I saw near the cliff" he said quietly, his head hanging between his forelegs. Littlefoots grandparents looked down at him, before his Grandfather lowered his head towards him.

"Well Littlefoot, whilst I may not be pleased with you running off during the night, but I am glad you told us about what you saw" he said to his grandson. Littlefoot raised his head slightly with a small smile. His grandparents always seemed forgiving of him.

"Come along now, me must tell the others" his grandfather said as he raised his head and began walking into the centre of the valley.

Meanwhile, back down in the caves, Alex was sleeping with his back against the wall. As he slept, a small sauropod climbed up a ledge and onto his head, where it stood. Soon afterwards, a second one walked around a corner and stared up at the first with a frown.

"Skitter, do you have to climb on everything you first meet it?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. The Tinysaurus looked down at her, before saying slowly.

"It's a habit Lizzy!" Skitter said before turning his attention back to the sleeping 'thing' he was standing on, paying particular attention to the strange things on its head. Figuring they must be a plant, he bit down and began to pull. Lizzy stared up at him in shock.

"Skitter! What are you doing? You'll…." She was interrupted by the boy opening his eyes, his green irises seemed to glow in the dim light. "Wake him" she finished. Alex's eyes flicked up towards his head, feeling his hair being pulled on. Without a second thought, he flicked his head forward, sending Skitter flying to the floor just at the base of his feet. Looking down, he spotted the creature, his eyes shooting open as he realised where he was.

"_The Land Before Time universe"_ he thought to himself. _"Which means these guys are the Tinysauruses, great!"_ he added sarcastically. When his attention returned to the two small dinosaurs in front of him, he realised they had run around a corner.

"Hey wai…" he began before stopping quickly, there had never even been so much as a mention of anything remotely human in their world, he could damage the fabric of reality simply by being there. Besides, many of the Great Valley dinosaurs had a reputation for being violent towards individuals they didn't recognise, the Tinysauruses being a perfect example.

"_But if I don't explain to them, they're gonna be terrified" _he thought to himself grimly, he was never usually a person who thought about anything but himself. He mentally groaned, why were things never simple?

"You can come out, I'm not going to hurt you!" he called out through the cavern. After a few moments, Lizzy and Skitter walked back into view upon the ledge. Skitter slowly walked down the ledge until he was at eye level with Alex before he started talking.

"Who and what are you?" he asked, curiosity having overcome his fear. Alex rolled his eyes at the predictable question, not that he could blame the Tinysaurus.

"If you really need to know I'm a human, Skitter" he said, not realising his slip of the name. Lizzy's curiosity was enough to allow her to climb onto Alex's shoulder so she could speak directly into his ear.

"How do you know his name?" she asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow. Alex swallowed, he had dug himself a hole he couldn't escape from. Then, as if a god had answered his prayers, a series of short tremors rocked the caves, sending several rocks crashing to the ground.

Skitters body became a green streak as he darted into a small hole in the rock wall, whilst Lizzy leapt into the small space between the cave wall and the back of Alex's coat. Before long, the shaking stopped, and Lizzy cautiously poked her head out from the material.

"Something must be happening up on the surface!" she shouted from beneath the folds of the trench coat. Suddenly a new set of tremors rocked the tunnel, causing a rock to drop, straight onto Alex's head where it cracked upon impact with his strong skull. Disgruntled, he stood up sharply, sending a shower of dust from his shoulders.

"Where are you going?" Skitter asked the boy as he crawled out of the hole.

"To see if I can find a more peaceful place to sleep topside" he answered evidently annoyed, as he pulled the straps of his bag back onto his shoulders before calmly striding off. Up above, things were less than peaceful.

"RIDICULOUS!" Mr Threehorn (or Topsy as he was known as by Tria) bellowed. Littlefoot had just told the rest of the valleys inhabitants about what he had seen during the night and as almost always, Mr Threehorn was in denial. Right next to him, Tria was trying to keep him calm, a task that was easier said than done in his case.

"My friend, please do take into account that the rocks have indeed been moved, not to mention the new path into the forest" Grandpa Longneck explained. Some of the other dinosaurs murmured in worried agreements.

"Don't be absurd longneck, someone probably just knocked them over during the night, besides, nothing could survive a rockslide like that!" Mr Threehorn protested. Littlefoot wrinkled his nose in annoyance, Cera's father never believed a word he said.

"But it's the truth, I saw it. It stood up straight, and it had green eyes and hands, and it didn't even have a tail!" he shouted, trying to get his point across in a mixture of frustration and desperation. Beside him, Cera snorted.

"Sounds to me more like you were having a sleep story" she said loudly, making no attempt to hide her scepticism. Littlefoot turned to face her, pushing his face close to hers.

"I was not!" he protested, staring with glaring eyes into hers. In response, Cera pushed her head forward until it collided with his.

"Were to!" she yelled back

"Not!"

"Too!" The meeting was rapidly descending into chaos, with people screaming to be heard above one another

"Everyone please be quiet, if there is something inside the valley, the chances are almost definitely that it is just a traveller seeking refuge. But if however this is not the case we will be extra cautious!" Grandma Longneck called above the loud chatter, silencing the worried dinosaurs.

The sound of happy laughter dragged the gang's attention away from the meeting. It was Dinah and Danah, Cera's nephew and niece, playing with each other as they always were. But this time something was missing, and it was Ducky who was the first to notice it.

"Tricia is not with them she is not. Nope nope!" she said, and that was all that was required to get Cera's full attention.

"Tricia! Where'd she go?" she screamed to her friends, but she did not wait for an answer before darting into the dense forest. Tricia meanwhile had gone exploring, having grown tired of the threehorn twin's constant rough and tumble. Before she could go any deeper into the forest however, a set of feet came crashing down in front of her. Looking up, she saw the creatures sharp nails rake along a tree's trunk, its lips parting to reveal a set of sharp canines as it reached down for her.

On the other side of the Great Valley, a sickle shaped toe claw tapped upon a rock on top of the Great Wall where it had been broken by the strange flying rocks impact. The group of raptors looked at the feast which awaited them, before descending into the valley below, hopping nimbly from rock to rock.


End file.
